Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Announces Complete Summer 2020 Season
By: Stephi Wild Oct. 28, 2019
The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival has announced the complete lineup for the 2020 Summer Season, including Shakespeare's crookback villain Richard III and the lovestruck romantic comedy Love's Labor's Lost, alongside the world premiere of The Venetian Twins by Carlo Goldoni in a new adaptation by Christopher Bayes and Steven Epp. The 2020 season will also feature free performances of HVSF's family-friendly, touring production of Much Ado About Nothing. Performance schedule and casting will be announced at a later date.
"At HVSF, it's all about the interplay between the actors and the audience, and that is especially true of our 2020 Season," said Artistic Director Davis McCallum. "Whether it's Richard of Gloucester enlisting us in his bloody climb to power; or big-hearted clowns bursting into raucous song; or young lovers confiding in us about the anguish of falling in love for the first time, our audiences will be an essential part of the action under the Tent next summer."
RICHARD III
Directed by Davis McCallum
Since I cannot prove a lover / To entertain these fair well-spoken days, / I am determined to prove a villain.
Part comedy, part history, part tragedy, Shakespeare's first masterpiece chronicles the irresistible rise of the Duke of Gloucester and his insatiable desire for power. With longtime HVSF company member Kurt Rhoads in the title role, this crookback villain will be the kind you love to hate, as Richard schemes and seduces his way to the throne, letting nothing but his own ambition get in his way.
THE VENETIAN TWINS
World Premiere
New adaptation by Christopher Bayes and Steven Epp
Directed by Christopher Bayes
Think of Goldoni's Venetian Twins as the irrepressible Italian cousin of Shakespeare's own Comedy of Errors, and you've got the basic gist: long-lost twins and mistaken identities. But in the hands of celebrated director Christopher Bayes and HVSF's company of clowns, you have the makings of something truly insane and hilarious. The team that brought you the "deliriously happy-making" The Servant of Two Masters (Washington Post) will have your funny bone aching from the minute you sit down.
LOVE'S LABOR'S LOST
Directed by Amanda Dehnert
Let us once lose our oaths to find ourselves / Or else we lose ourselves to keep our oaths.
Four young noblemen absent themselves from society, in order to focus entirely on their studies. They even take a monastic oath: No girls! All books! But when the Princess of France turns up with three young ladies, how long will the men's resolve hold up? Director Amanda Dehnert (HVSF's Pride and Prejudice) infuses Shakespeare's delightful comedy with an original pop/rock score (by Dehnert and Andre Pluess) that gives full voice to the unique experience of being young and in love.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
HVSF on the Road
Directed by Kholoud Sawaf
Not till God make men of some other metal than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be overmastered with a piece of valiant dust? To make an account of her life to a clod of wayward marl?
Scandal abounds in Shakespeare's hilarious, biting comedy about lies, courtship, and the chaos created in pursuit of true love. The famous bantering lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, trade barbs while matching wits (and hearts) in this celebrated romantic romp. Perfect for the whole family, this 90-minute production is built to tour, and geared towards audiences of all ages.
HVSF's 2020 season tickets ($10 - $100) will be available for purchase on March 9, 2020. Early access to tickets is available for members of HVSF's Saints & Poets Society (March 2) and Festival Circles Program (February 24). Discover more about HVSF's Membership Programs at hvshakespeare.org/support/membership-programs/.
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